Atlas of Battles

battle, major, medieval

Battle of Ad Decimum

Battle of Ad Decimum was a battle fought on 13 September AD 533 at Carthage, in what is now Tunisia. It was part of the Vandalic War, which ran from AD 533 to AD 534. The recorded result: Byzantine victory.

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Map of the first phase of the Battle of Ad Decimum, 533 AD. Base map extracted from File:Tunis Gulf topo map-fr.svg. Sources: Ian Hughes, Belisarius: The Last Roman General, 2009; Ιστορία του Ελληνικο
Map of the first phase of the Battle of Ad Decimum, 533 AD. Base map extracted from File:Tunis Gulf topo map-fr.svg. Sources: Ian Hughes, Belisarius: The Last Roman General, 2009; Ιστορία του Ελληνικο. Cplakidas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought13 September AD 533
WhereCarthage, Tunisia36.765N, 10.225E
OutcomeByzantine victory
BelligerentsByzantine EmpireagainstVandal Kingdom
Part ofVandalic WarAD 533 to AD 534

Where it sits in the Vandalic War

Battle of Ad Decimum, AD 533Battle of Carthage, AD 533Battle of Tricamarum, AD 533AD 533AD 533Battle of Ad Decimum, AD 533
3 placed engagements of the Vandalic War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date13 September AD 533
PlaceCarthage, Tunisia
36.765N, 10.225E
KindBattle, medieval
Commanders
  • Gelimer
  • Ammatas
Battle of Ad DecimumBattle of Ad DecimumConquest of TunisSiege of TunisSiege of TunisBattle of Lake TunisSiege of TunisBattle of Lake TunisSousseQairouanBizerteNabeulBéjaEl KefJendoubaSiliana100 km36.765N, 10.225E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Ad Decimum
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Ad Decimum today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-25. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 6 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -8 to 96 m, 104 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 62% built-up, 14% grassland, 7% wetland.

built-up: 62%grassland: 14%wetland: 7%bare ground: 6%water: 6%tree cover: 4%built-up 62%grassland 14%wetland 7%bare ground 6%water 6%
west to east, 10.0 km3 to 66 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 18 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 7 times between 255 BC and 1705.

In the same war

Elsewhere in AD 533

Battle of Ad Decimum is one of 120 engagements of the 6th century in the atlas and one of 119 in present-day Tunisia.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1127353, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Ad Decimum, revision 1372804774, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.